As most people accept, Ireland’s excpetionally LOW corporation tax rate has been integral to attracting FDI and it is an excellent idea for a country to keep tax on business as low as possible. With the Irish economy staggering from crisis to crisis, comes this news….

The leaders of France and Germany have called jointly for eurozone countries to have common corporation and financial transaction taxes. The tax policy would apply only to the 17-member eurozone. France has long complained about Ireland’s low corporation tax rate of 12.5%.

Since Merkozy call the shots these days, and since they clearly seek to end Ireland’s advantage in this area, where to how for Enda and the gang?

It’s paid partly by shareholders, partly by customers, but it’s paid mainly by employees. In effect, the very wealthy Merkel and Sarkozy are calling for the average Irish man and woman to be paid less, for political reasons.

Of course the inconvenient truth is that many of the companies taking advantage of Ireland’s low tax rate are profits launderers brass plate operations located in the financial centre and employing very few.

Profits are routed from higher tax zones with the connivance of the Irish state which is the equivalent of an offshore “tax haven” not so much different from Netherlands Antillies.

No, they screw a brass plate on the door, employ a solicitor as company secretary and pay bugger all. The point is that the ROI low tax rate is only one of many tax advantages which make it the EU’s very own tax haven.

Yes, the real firms would be affected too, the ones that actually produce stuff and employ people.

The German chemical company Bayer relocated its main operations to Ireland and made no secret that the tax rate was the reason. The Germans were enraged, and have always been determined to do soemthing about it.

The point is construct the singular central state of Europe, governed wholly from Brussels. Whether or not something helps France is beside the point, but if something damages places like the RoI on the road to the nation of Europe, then so be it.

I’m all in favour of tax havens. In fact, I view my job as advising people (and calculating on their behalf) how they can pay the very least amount of tax legally possible, so that they can keep as much of their private property as possible.

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